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Matthew Rice
| cityofbirth = Warner Bay | countryofbirth = St. Gregory | dateofdeath = | cityofdeath = | countryofdeath = | height = | position = Defender | currentclub = Bonneville United (assistant manager) | clubnumber = | youthyears = 1986-1987 | youthclubs = North Bonneville | years = 1987-1988 1988-2008 | clubs = North Bonneville Bonneville United | caps(goals) = 12 (1) | nationalyears = 1990-2006 | nationalteam = St. Gregory | nationalcaps(goals) = 125 (11) | manageryears = 2009-2017 2017- | managerclubs = Bonneville Juniors Bonneville United (assistant) }} Matthew Eric Rice (born June 18, 1969) is a Gregorian football coach and former player, who currently serves as the assistant manager of Bonneville United. An accomplished defender, usually playing the role of center-back or sweeper, Rice played his entire professional career for Bonneville United, plus one year with their predecessor, North Bonneville. Rice was a 16-year representative of the St. Gregory national team, nine of those years as national team captain. With 125 caps, he remains the territory's most-capped defensive player. After his playing days were over, and following a year away from the game, Rice returned to football in a management role. From 2009 to 2017, he was the the manager of Bonneville Juniors, a club which had previously spun off from United's youth system. He took Juniors to a runners-up finish in League B in 2014-15, earning the team its first-ever promotion to the top flight. Early life Rice was born in Warner Bay to an English family, but moved with them to Bonneville at a young age as his father's company relocated him. It was there that he began playing youth football in the local league. Playing career North Bonneville After impressing club scouts during a local under-18 championship match, Rice signed his first professional contract with North Bonneville F.C. as a 17 year-old in June 1986. He spent the 1986-87 season in North's reserve side before graduating to the first team early in 1987-88, during which he made 12 appearances – all but two as a substitute – and scored his only goal for the club, a header from a corner against Little Rouge. Bonneville United Following the merger of the North and West Bonneville clubs in 1988, Rice's contract was picked up by the new club, Bonneville United, and he signed a new three-year deal. Rice spent the next two seasons continuing to earn playing time in the defensive rotation, and by early 1990 had earned a regular place in the starting eleven. Rice's play thrived with the arrival of Dutch manager Richard Berghuis in the summer of 1992. Rice was moved from outside back to center-half under Berghuis' 3-4-1-2 system and earned Defender of the Year honors for the 1992-93 League A season, during which United won their first League A title. Along with goalkeeper David Jackson and mid-90s defensive arrivals Ian Fuller and Mark Dietrich, Rice anchored one of the most dominant backlines in the history of St. Gregory football. The 1997-98 League A season season saw United concede just 17 goals in 30 matches, a record that still stands as of 2017. In the second half of the 1998 SGFA Shield against Forest United, Rice scored an own goal when a cross by Forest midfielder Hemant Patel deflected off Rice's foot and into the goal. The own goal made the score 4-2 to Forest, and they went on to win by the same score. Retirement Rice retired from professional football at the end of the 2007-08 League A season, following a 21-year professional career during which he missed only 19 matches due to injury. In all, Rice was part of eight League A-winning United teams and started in five successful SGFA Cup finals for the club. Managing career Bonneville Juniors Rice had been approached by several clubs in St. Gregory about managing as early as 2006 after he had hinted at retirement following the 2005-06 League A season. Le Journal de Bonneville also reported a potential interest in that position with the St. Gregory national team, however Rice denied this and took a hiatus from football for the 2008-09 season to spend time with his family. On July 14, 2009, Rice was named as the new manager of Bonneville Juniors. The club had previously been the Bonneville United Academy and still had strong ties to their former parent club. Rice was sacked by Juniors on January 11, 2017, following a 2-1 home defeat to Forest United that left the club in last place in League A. He was replaced by Thomas Lejeune, who could not save Juniors from the drop as they would go on to finish 16th and be relegated back to League B. Bonneville United On July 19, 2017, Rice was hired by Bonneville United as an assistant under second-year manager Yann-Marc Kleffer. Personal life Rice has a harbor-side home on Bonneville's affluent northwest side where he lives with his wife, Toni, and their two sons, who are both in the new United Academy. Category:Manager pages Category:Bonneville United F.C. non-playing staff Category:Bonneville Juniors F.C. managers Category:Player pages Category:Bonneville United F.C. players Category:North Bonneville F.C. players Category:People from Bonneville Category:People from Warner Bay Category:Retired players